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Alpha Two Phase II testing is currently taking place 5+ days each week. More information about testing schedule can be found here
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Active blocking
krijos
Member
I've been reading up on the active blocking discussion and how the metrics for successfully blocking were abysmal, but also the idea of utilizing waterfall stats which I think is a great middle ground.
But my concern is more with how it feels to play with active blocking. As a tank you are meant to be the defender of the party standing in between when someone goes after your party members. One of the best feelings about tanking in Tera was the active blocking and simply standing in the way of an ability directed at someone else. Having looked at the system used in New World they also add an aggro bonus on intercepting a skill like that, further adding to the rewarding feeling like you are actively stepping into the line of fire, protecting your party, and forcing the enemy's attack on you, because you will not allow anyone else to fall before you do.
But my concern is more with how it feels to play with active blocking. As a tank you are meant to be the defender of the party standing in between when someone goes after your party members. One of the best feelings about tanking in Tera was the active blocking and simply standing in the way of an ability directed at someone else. Having looked at the system used in New World they also add an aggro bonus on intercepting a skill like that, further adding to the rewarding feeling like you are actively stepping into the line of fire, protecting your party, and forcing the enemy's attack on you, because you will not allow anyone else to fall before you do.
5
Comments
Dodge should be an ability for rogue and fighter.
Obviously fighter should be worse at utilizing block than knight, and worse at dodging than a rogue.
Not all classes should use block and dodge and not all weapons as well.
Tera did the best implementation of active block and dodge.
I am very surprised that Jeff Bard mentioned that they faced issues with active block. I hope they can overcome them and deliver a solid combat.
I can see fighter doubling down on dodge or block through secondary archtype augments too.
It would be interesting to see how summoners would play a tanking summon in such a system. As far as Tera goes Mystic's tanking pet had no tools to actively mitigate and was generally very lackluster, and I think it would be more frustrating than anything to micro manage a pet for active blocking and positioning. But I do see the possibility of the summoner themselves stepping in the way and using a magical barrier, possibly with a far greater risk/reward trade off where a missed block might really hurt, or even kill, them.
Obviously not very op.
Never thought of this but it makes sense! I feel everyone should have the ability to block but in a different way. Like raylegh mentioning mages with a mana/ice shield while rogues would have dodge and fighter/knight an actual block
Trying to think of it from a realistic perspective - It wouldn't feel right to simply get an aggro bonus for standing in the way of an attack. I want my aggro to be based on the skills and combos that I use. I want my priority to be positioning the boss in a way that mitigates the damage the raid is taking as well as allows my players to deal as much damage as possible (raid boss weaknesses would be cool but for a different topic that I will post soon).
One thing that is concerning with a system like this is that AoC is heavily pvp leaning. If pve was the primary focus of end game content, an active block design would be great. Being that pvp is the focus, an active block on one or numerous classes will take away from balancing and force less skills available (since simply blocking an attack is better than any other skills that could be used). It would be fun to frantically block and attack (much like in Last Oasis...I found that combat system REALLY enjoyable), but not in this setting.
What I think would work would be an ability "Brace Yourself" or something of that nature. When activated, it would give you "X" amount of time where your character completely blocks any attacks received. It would have to be on a longer cooldown of course. An ability like this could be used to save for specific attacks once a player knows a boss fight or against players when they expect strong attacks to come their way. Even this may still be too OP imo.
Ashes is PvX at all levels - including max level.
The "Brace Yourself" ability seems way worse than an active block button. Active block you can miss-time.
And while you're hitting the active block button, that is one less ability button you can activate.
Have you played with active block in a MMO?
You should still need to use attacks to keep aggro. A good tank is able to block the big hits while weaving in their skills. I'm not sure why position would become less important with active block.
Yes it will change how things are balanced but i don't think it takes away. When using active block, you usually can't use other skills so it's a choice. Yes, you can hide behind your shield but you aren't doing anything. If you give an example of a skill that you think is unusable with active block then i can tell you why it still has a place.
I prefer active block over a defensive cooldown. It's just another thing that makes me feel like i have more control over your character. I also think it helps with healer balance if they don't need to offset all the damage big bosses do.
You played Elyon last week? I Really enjoyed the tank with active block consuming stamina per time and per hits, was a really good feature.. And players/mobs can still hit on your back and sides
Yeah sorry, this doesn't look fun at all. Standing in one spot and blocking when needed? I get that different fights can be more immersive with this style but not for me. Also, this seemed like a lesser version of monster hunter combat and a slower/more boring version of dynasty warriors.
I kinda prefer having the Tank stand mostly in one spot so that Rogues can run around behind the target to backstab. Also, if aoe damage is focused in front of the target...towards the Tank... the rest of us in the group can attack from the flanks and avoid that damage. Which is much better than everyone else in the group having to run all over the place as the target/mob follows a moving Tanks.
I mean, irl, tanks are pretty much known to basically stay in one spot and soak damage. They aren't running circles around the enemy.
Also, that was not slow combat.
Pantheon has slow combat.
EQ has slow combat.
That vid has combat that is faster than WoW...and WoW is faster than EQ and Pantheon.
You have me a little confused. How is what is in that video any different than a game without it with the exception of him having to press a key to block an attack instead of just standing there and taking it. Are you trying to imply that he can never move or has no reason to position the boss?
Could you show me an example of tank gameplay that you like so we can talk about what would change about it if active block was implemented?
Yea it looks like fun. I liked the idea of mages having a mana shield for magical attacks, and an ice wall to stop physical attacks.
Curiously I searched if it has been implemented in some other mmo and WoW has done it with the exact same name (ice wall), and it was recently. xDD
On the other hand, I also think it would make sense for it to be available to everyone else by speccing into the shield weapon tree.
So that is: base skill for tanks and fighters. Must be specced into for the rest, and only with a shield equipped.
This would limit the use by other classes who might need other arms to be at peak performance, or who might otherwise suffer from a lack of skill points, by speccing into the shield tree.
Yeah, I played last oasis and did VERY well in pvp. It was entertaining to say the least (quad directional block
@Dygz You're right, there are slower games out there. This I would still consider this slow combat. He clearly used abilities just to make it look flashy.
Are we watching the same 41 second video? It looks like shit gameplay. He is fighting a group of mobs that all look like they are cluttered with poor pathing. He leaps onto one of them for some reason and then back peddles into position so the group clumps up again. Then whirlwind, leap backwards, charge in, AOE attack, and ground smash only to finish them off while they are stunned. wow....exciting.
Even worse, he goes up against a bigger mob and literally doesn't move at all. He stands there and rotates abilities + blocking.
I understand your view on a cooldown ability to block vs being able to actively block. I see the positives from both but I simply prefer to time my cooldowns vs actively blocking.
Tank busters. A move designed to one shot you unless you use a CD to prevent death. You are expected to actively pay attention at block/prevent the attack.
I get that this might not fit some peoples definitions of active blocking, but to me it is close enough. The difference is normally a CD vs stamina system.
That said, I think anyone using a shield should be able to actively block. That is what a shield is for. If you want to be a mage and be able to block some melee with a wand and buckler. That shit is fine by me.
This is my personal feedback, shared to help the game thrive in its niche.
It would be nice to see that in AoC as well.
It wasn't until Terra that I actually prefered playing a tank and that was because of the lancer and active blocking. From lowbie dungeons to end game was fun and I can honestly say that it was my favorite tank out of all the games I played.
Same, mate. I also liked the fact a Berserker couldn't fully block the damage of some BAM attacks, so while solo hunting BAMs it turned into a game of learning which attacks I could block and which I needed to avoid by moving out of the way and which gave me the time to charge up some of the heavier attacks in my move set.
The rogue lifestyle is about dancing with danger (dodging)
Fighters parrying.
Tanks blocking.
Rangers just always on the move and keeping their distance
For the other archetypes..
clerics heal themselves back up
summoners use their minions as body shields/deflecting damage they take to their minions.
and bards charming their way out of tight situations
I don't think these are equally defensive, but I do think all classes should have defensive options.